Chen Fei stared at Bai Xin Yue, his mind reeling more from her cold words than from the battle itself. The warmth and gentle concern that had defined "Master Yue" were gone, replaced by a chilling, pragmatic annoyance. It was as if a beautiful, painted mask had cracked, revealing the hard, unfamiliar stone beneath.
"Master Yue...?" he stammered, pushing himself up. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," she said, her voice sharp and impatient as she scanned the ruined chamber for any remaining valuables, "that your uncanny ability to stumble into the lairs of my enemies without getting yourself killed seems to have vanished. You were a reliable guide. Now, you are just a liability I have to protect." She didn't understand the mechanics of fortune, but she understood results. Before, this boy had been a magnet for opportunity, a compass that pointed unerringly towards her next meal. Now, that compass was broken.
Chen Fei was speechless. He had always believed his successes were due to his hard work and her brilliant guidance. The idea that some invisible "luck" was responsible was a foreign concept, and her dismissal of him as a mere "tool" was a wound far deeper than the one on his chest.
"Let's go," she commanded, not waiting for him. She had absorbed the Butcher's power, a significant gain, but the cost—the damaging of her primary asset—left a sour taste in her mouth. She now had to actively manage her investment, a tedious and irritating task.
Their journey out of the petrified forest was a stark contrast to their previous travels. The easy camaraderie was gone, replaced by a tense, heavy silence. Before, Chen Fei would have confidently led the way, his instincts guiding him along the safest paths. Now, he hesitated at every fork in the road, a strange uncertainty clouding his judgment. It was Bai Xin Yue who took the lead, her senses on high alert. Without the boy's plot armor to smooth the way, the world was suddenly filled with random, unpredictable dangers.
Their new reality was tested a few days later. While seeking shelter for the night, they found a cave. In the past, Chen Fei's luck would have ensured such a cave was either empty or contained a hidden spiritual herb. Tonight, it was the lair of a 'Three-Eyed Shadow Panther,' a vicious demonic beast that was an expert in ambushes. The moment they stepped inside, the beast lunged from the darkness, its claws aimed directly at Chen Fei's throat. His reaction was a fraction too slow, the certainty that had been honed by a lifetime of good fortune now absent.
Before the claws could connect, a wall of black ice, radiating a soul-freezing cold, erupted from the ground, encasing the panther in a grotesque statue. Bai Xin Yue stood with her hand outstretched, her expression one of pure exasperation. "Do you see?" she snapped, her voice dripping with frustration. "This is what I mean. You are a walking disaster magnet without your luck. I cannot be constantly saving you from every random monster whose nap you interrupt." She shattered the ice statue with a wave of her hand, absorbing the beast's life force with a practiced ease. She needed to find a way to fix her broken tool, or this journey would become an endless series of tedious, unprofitable rescue missions.
Chen Fei watched, his heart a mixture of shame, confusion, and a growing, painful understanding. He wasn't her student. He was her divining rod, and he had just broken.
Watching from the celestial mirror, Ao Xian was laughing so hard he nearly spilled his drink. "Oh, this is a thousand times better!" he exclaimed to his maids. "The master-student act was so cliché. But this? The reluctant, overpowered bodyguard and the now-clumsy, luckless hero? It's a classic odd-couple comedy!"
Lian Xin fanned him, a sultry smile on her face. "You have turned their epic tragedy into a sitcom, Young Lord."
"Exactly!" Ao Xian beamed, his eyes glued to the mirror, where Bai Xin Yue was now lecturing a dejected Chen Fei on the importance of situational awareness. "The drama, the tension, the sheer awkwardness of it all! This is premium entertainment. Let's see how long the great Nether Empress can stand being a babysitter."
The next few weeks were a masterclass in frustration for Bai Xin Yue. Her perfect plan—using a fated hero as a divining rod to locate and weaken powerful, karmically-negative cultivators for her to absorb—was in shambles. Without his plot armor, Chen Fei was less of a hero and more of a walking trouble magnet. They were ambushed by a pack of starving Sand Wolves while crossing a desert—a common, random danger his luck would have previously allowed them to avoid entirely. Bai Xin Yue had to incinerate them with a wave of her hand, a trivial use of her power but an annoying delay. A rickety rope bridge they needed to cross a chasm snapped halfway across, not due to a villain's trap, but simple rot. She had to grab Chen Fei and fly them the rest of the way, her expression a mask of cold fury. Worst of all, their hunt for high-value targets had gone cold. Chen Fei's uncanny instinct for sniffing out evil had been replaced by a mundane, mortal-like uncertainty. They were wandering aimlessly.
"This is untenable," Bai Xin Yue finally declared one evening as they camped in a desolate mountain pass. She had just finished fending off a territorial Stone Golem that Chen Fei had accidentally awakened by tripping over its dormant head. "We cannot wander these wilds hoping to stumble upon your 'justice.' Your methods are inefficient."
Chen Fei, who was nursing a bruised shoulder, looked at her, the hurt in his eyes now mixed with a spark of defiance. The constant condescension was beginning to wear away at his admiration. "Then what do you suggest, Master Yue? The evils we fought before were clear. Now, the world is... quiet."
"Because you were a beacon that drew them out," she retorted, not caring to soften the blow. "Now, you are just a rock. We need a new strategy." Her mind, the cunning mind of the Nether Empress, began to work. If the prey would not come to them, they would have to go to the prey's hunting grounds. "We will go to the Blackwater Swamp. It is a lawless place, a haven for demonic cultivators, bounty hunters, and the dregs of the world. There will be no shortage of targets there. But," she added, her cold eyes fixing on him, "it is also a place where a naive boy with a hero complex will be eaten alive in minutes. You will do exactly as I say, speak only when I permit it, and touch nothing. Am I clear?"
Chen Fei flinched at her tone but gave a stiff nod. The gentle mentor was well and truly gone, replaced by a ruthless commander. He didn't understand what had changed, but he knew he had no choice but to follow.
The Blackwater Swamp was less a feature of the landscape and more a festering wound upon it. A perpetual, sickly green mist hung low over stagnant, black water, thick enough to choke the senses and obscure vision beyond a few feet. The gnarled, leafless trees that grew from the mire looked like the skeletal hands of drowned giants, and the air was a putrid cocktail of decay, sulfur, and spilled blood. Their destination was the heart of the swamp, a ramshackle city built on a series of interconnected, magically reinforced platforms known as 'The Murk.' It was the only major settlement in the region, a notorious haven for wanted criminals, disgraced demonic cultivators, and anyone else who needed to disappear from the civilized world.
As they approached the outskirts of The Murk, Bai Xin Yue stopped Chen Fei, her expression grim. "From this moment on, you are not a hero. You are not a righteous disciple. You are my mute, half-witted younger brother. You will keep your head down, your mouth shut, and your eyes on the ground. The people here can smell righteousness like sharks smell blood, and they will tear you apart for it. Do you understand?"
Chen Fei, though bristling at the insult, could feel the palpable evil radiating from the settlement. He gave a reluctant nod.
The Murk was even worse up close. The wooden platforms were slick with grime, and the buildings were crooked, leaning against each other for support. Every face they passed was scarred, suspicious, or openly hostile. A brawl broke out in a nearby alley, ending when one man plunged a jagged dagger into the other's back. No one batted an eye. Chen Fei, despite his best efforts, couldn't completely suppress his nature. He saw a stall owner, a hulking man with a karmic value of -950, short-change a young, terrified-looking girl. Before Bai Xin Yue could stop him, he stepped forward. "Sir, you seem to have made a mistake. You owe the young lady another two copper coins."
The hulking man slowly turned, a grotesque smile spreading across his face. "A mistake? Oh, you're right, I did make a mistake." He backhanded the girl, sending her sprawling. "I forgot to charge her for the privilege of breathing my air." He then looked at Chen Fei, his eyes filled with predatory glee. "And you, pretty boy, look like you've got a lot of 'mistakes' in that coin purse of yours."
Several other unsavory characters in the vicinity began to slowly converge on them, their hands drifting to the hilts of their rusted weapons.
Bai Xin Yue let out a sigh that was pure, undiluted exasperation. She had given him one simple job. She stepped forward, placing a hand on Chen Fei's shoulder and pushing him behind her. She didn't unleash her full power; that would attract too much unwanted attention. Instead, she let a sliver of the Nether Empress's soul-freezing aura leak out. "He is with me," she said, her voice a low, chilling whisper that cut through the noise of the street.
The air grew cold. The converging thugs froze, their greedy expressions turning to ones of primal fear. The hulking stall owner's smile vanished, replaced by a look of terror as he stared into her cold, indifferent eyes. He felt as if he were looking at a being that didn't just see him as a potential victim, but as a tedious insect to be squashed without a second thought.
"My... my apologies, Lady," the stall owner stammered, frantically scooping a handful of coins and pressing them into the stunned girl's hands before bowing deeply. The other thugs melted back into the crowd as if they had never been there.
Bai Xin Yue gave them a final, dismissive glare before grabbing Chen Fei's arm and dragging him away. "I believe I told you to touch nothing," she hissed, her voice dangerously low. "Congratulations, you have been here for less than five minutes, and you have already almost gotten yourself killed over two copper coins."
Watching from his celestial pavilion, Ao Xian observed the scene in the mirror with a placid expression.
"She is growing impatient with him, Young Lord," Hu Mei'er observed. "Her control is slipping."
"It's not slipping," Ao Xian corrected, his tone analytical. "It's evolving. She has moved from manipulation to direct command. Her frustration is forcing her to reveal more of her true nature." He pointed a finger at the mirror, where Bai Xin Yue was dragging a resentful Chen Fei through the crowd. "This is the turning point. The hero's idealism is now clashing directly with the villain's pragmatism. The foundation of their alliance is cracking. This is where the story truly begins."